Nanny Ashtoreth

[savage_rose]

She wore a knit tweed suit and discreet pearl earrings. Something about her might have said nanny, but it said it in an undertone of the sort employed by British butlers in a certain type of American film. It also coughed discreetly and muttered that she could well be the sort of nanny who advertises unspecified but strangely explicit services in certain magazines.

Middle Eastern flowers, amber, honey, blood red-berries, whip leather, and polished paddle wood.

In the bottle, it smells like an incredible men's cologne. Leather, wood, and men's cologne, heavy and redolent with dark power. I think this is more along the lines of Grampy Ashtoreth (although, when I was reading G.O. I wondered if Nanny was actually a male demon in female form. And judging by this scent, 1.) Yes, and 2.) He's really hot when he's not trying to seem like someone's creepy tutor from Hell, literally).

On me, it smells a little like it does in the bottle, but the cologne dampens a bit, and I can smell the leather and wood very easily. It's spicy and a bit musky smelling. Very sexy, very manly...I've just tried it on the husband, we'll see how it smells on him.

ETA: It smells the same on him...scents never smell alike on both of us. But mmmm...I can't pick out the berries or the honey, but it really doesn't matter. Mmmmm. Edited May 13, 2008 by Shollin

[Tramp]

I'm sitting here sniffing my wrist wondering if I have had some sort of stroke that has left me with an olfactory blind spot. I have on nanny. it is a very light scent that stays close to your skin. I also can't smell anything beyond leather (a very light leather) and wood (again, a very light wood) Where is my honey? My berries? My Amber and flowers?

 

*flails about on the floor in a snit*

 

 

Ok, snit over. This really is a lovely light cologne, but more masculine than I was anticipating. I was hoping for nerdy dominatrix but this is more like the nerdy dominatrixes accountant date.

[naeelah]

In the bottle: Helloooo musk! Looking at the notes listing, this is a bit puzzling. But appropriate. It smells like Arabian or maybe Indian musk -- similar to Black Lace and Othello.

 

On skin: The musk has a whip, and it means business. In this initial stage it really reminds me of Krampus, but with this eastern musk in place of the red musk. It's very cologne-like and butch, which I guess is appropriate for the nanny, but not what I was expecting. I was really hoping for a creamy, more feminine leather scent, because all of the leather blends are so masculine.

 

Drying: The wood comes out now with a hint of honey (it's a lighter, waxier honey), but the leather and musk are still the dominant notes. There a slight soapy quality that I guess is the flowers, and I can't pick out the berries yet.

 

It seems to get less and less prominently musky as it wears, but sadly, the other notes never really surface.

 

I expect that the other notes are things that will have to bloom with the blessings of age. I'll hang onto the bottle for a while and see how she goes, but if it never changes, this is not the nanny I was looking for.

 

Try it if you like: Anactoria (this is REALLY similar, on me), Krampus, Crowley, Dee

 

3 months later: The amber and honey are much stronger now, so the blend has more of a creamy, sweet quality. However, the leather is still really masculine, and the flowers lend an extra dryness. I still don't get much sense of the berries.

 

So, really, the blend is much the same now, only the leather is better balanced with the honey. It's an improvement, but not enough to make me keep the bottle.

Edited August 17, 2008 by naeelah

[LunaLovegood]

<----- SOrry I just had to use the little fellow

 

I am so dissapointed in this. I was hoping such an instrinsicate blend with this one. All I can smell is the leather. Its slightly, just slightly less leatherish than De Sade, but on my skin, is pure leather. *pouts*

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is sweet, dry, slightly floral wood...

 

once applied this remains rather woody with my chemistry and after awhile the amber and leather

poke through...the berry note makes this all come together in a very well balanced and interesting blend...

 

another one to try on my boy

[scarletgenesis]

Hey there leather...how about letting your friends play too?

 

This is a glorious smoky leather, with some wood coming through. I might get just a hint of florals, but no amber, honey, or berries, which is a bit disappointing. It is certainly a naughty blend.

 

This is really lovely, but alot like Crowley to me. Incredibly sexy and unisex. I wish I got the amber, honey, and berries though.

[tuesdaynexxt]

At first this one is heeeavy on the amber & honey. Dark men's scent. It gets very interesting after a few mintes, though. First the wood shows up, then the leather, and the heaviness calms down a bit. I keep sniffing it - it's just so interesting. I really didn't like it at first, and I probably wouldn't wear it, but I'll probably gift it to a (male) friend!

[ravenscanary]

In the bottle, I get a warm, sweet floral, with some woody/amber notes underneath.

 

As soon as it touched my skin, it was ALL leather, maybe with a touch of polished wood - like burying my nose in a leather jacket that's been hanging on a hanger in a nice cedar closet. Very manly, very rich. I tend to do gender neutral scents, but this isn't neutral, it's very masculine, almost smoky.

 

However, less than an hour later it had dried down to a much better balance, though I don't really smell berry. I'm still getting the leather and wood, but it's been sweetened with the honey and I can definitely get the flowers again, lightly. It's been 3 hours now, and I really like this scent after some drying time!

[Christine Daae]

In the bottle - sweet leather!

 

Wet, on my skin: y helo thar, leather! My skin seems to be doing this a lot lately - amping one note so much that it drowns out the others. Hopefully this won't just stay all leather, all the time.

 

As it dries I do get the hints of wood, but it's still mostly leather. I get a hint of sweetness from the honey, but just a little bit, and I don't get any berries or florals. Or amber, for that matter. (I was hoping for something more honey/floral/berry, with leather and wood as undertones, I think.)

 

I think I'll have to park her in a drawer to see if the leather/wood mellows at all with age, but as of right now Nanny is most assuredly Not My Thing. (It's too bad, because I love the idea of this scent, and the character! My first Good Omens scent, too...)

[grashopper8]

The sweet, woody, and leathery notes combine to smell like a soft, creamy sandalwood on me. It's a lovely scent, not too overpowering, and decidedly not exactly masculine with my chemistry.

 

Unfortunately, after about an hour or so, it starts to smell plasticky. It was a promising start, but just didn't end up working out.

 

3.5 out of 5

[MeiLin]

I LOVE this. I cannot wait to slather the husband in it--I get far too masculine a hit on it with my chemistry, but on the right woman--rwowr! I smell a lot of pipe tobacco. This is a Nanny as played by a panto Dame--she's a man, baby!

[Alchemy21599]

"she was such a naughty nanny..." as the Queen song goes. That is the lyric that popped into my head when I first sniffed Nanny A; I wonder if that is what Neil and Terry intended?

 

In the bottle: this smells like a tack room in a posh barn. Expensive, polished leather with a hint of earthiness.

 

Wet on skin: leathery goodness with a hint of sweetness that prevents it from turning into total dude-fume.

 

Dry: a marvelous close to the skin, gender neutral leather scent.

[tasty]

Wow, Nanny Ashtoreth smells like my friend, Tony. ...what?? *does a double take, err, sniff*

 

This scent is spices, men's cologne and a woodshop with a hint of pine?

 

I really can't get over how much this reminds me of Tony... It's a bit startling, actually.

[Iceblink]

MANNY Ashtoreth! This is so so so masculine on me, and I thought it would be sweeter. But I tend to amp leather like crazy and the leather is whipping all the other notes into submission, unfortunately. There's a wee hint of flowers, and a little bit of wood, but mostly it's leather leather leather. Rats!

[GypsyRoseRed]

Whoo hooo! This scent kicks ass - leather, oiled wood and golden amber with the faintest undertone of sweetness, so frail that you really have to concentrate to detect it. This may be the ultimate girl power blend.

[MaeKitty]

A fan of leather, amber, woods, honey and spices, I was really looking forward to this one. Nanny does not disappoint! It's a beautiful blend. Warm, spiced and just a tiny bit sweet. I could wear this all the time, especially as a sweeter alternative to Loviatar. Definitely getting a bottle of this. <3

 

Initially, it almost smells cologny, very similar to something my Dad used to wear. On me, however, it is completely feminine. Smokey leather, sweet, with a lovely warm wood and amber. I just love this

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Teak? Some sort of sweet wood and leather.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a strong scent. Not in throw, but in the feel of it. Mostly what I get is fragrant, dark wood and leather. This is sweetened up though with dribbles of honey and golden amber. This strikes me as masculine, but also a really determined, strong womanly type of scent.

 

After a little while: The little bit of sweetness I was getting from this at first has certainly faded. This has become much more of a leather dominated scent with a bit of wood in the background and an underlying bit of warm amber. This isn’t a golden amber scent though: it’s dry, crackling, thick leather and dark wood with a small bit of amber for some warmth.

 

Overall Impressions: This is much more masculine than I was expecting. Mostly this scent is leather and wood (with a feel almost of teak at first) with a bit of amber, though at first it is a little bit sweeter and more perfume-y. It becomes a very dry scent quickly though, with some underlying amber. It’s very nice, but too masculine of a scent for me. It’s a very assured, strong type of scent. I’m sure it could be worn by a woman, but I don’t think I enjoy it enough to try and pull it off.

[ravenfeathers]

like others, i was surprised about how this scent finally played out based on the notes.

 

in the bottle somewhat muddled, but i'm getting amber and a sharp wood.

wet on skin sweet, sweet, sweet, but it doesn't smell like honey, oddly. the leather is pronounced and there's something vaguely musky lurking around underneath which i really like.

dry on skin throw is negligible, but it's sort of a dark, musky floral now with the tiniest trace of something that smells a bit licorice-y at the tail end of each whiff, sort of bakeneko-like, flat root-beer.

 

i like the drier, more masculine notes, but the amber and florals aren't really doing it for me and i could wish for more of the blood-red berries.

[alicia_stardust]

This is stronger on the leather than I anticipated, but it's worth giving it a try and a skin test. It comes across as a very grounding, down-to-earth blend and I find it a tad comforting. Nanny dries down to a very calm and subdued leather which remains the most noticeable, but beyond that there is a touch of woods, amber, and sweetness.

 

This really is quite remarkable because most of the time, the presence of leather whatsoever tends to amp and sharpen, but this one remains very smooth and soft, almost sweet. While I don't get much in the way of berries, there is definitely some wildflowers hiding in the background. I'd call this unisex and with a longer than normal wear-length. Average throw.

[Jilara]

This is like a heavenly man's cologne. I find it intensely masculine, very leather and wood and pipe tobacco. It's sexy and compelling. A vague sweetness. No flowers. No real change over drydown.

 

I gave a sniff to my housemate, and he went bonkers. He thinks it's one of the best men's scents ever. Neither one of us can visualize it on a woman. At least not on *this* woman.

[tereshkova2001]

Wet, this is lovely. The berries and wood are most prominent, and the whole is a dark, sweet scent. It does seem appropriate to the character. Upon drydown, it becomes mostly wood and leather. I don't usually amp wood, but Antikythera Mechanism did the same thing recently. Odd.

 

...Although it seems that lots of people are getting wood and leather on this one, so perhaps my skin hasn't changed.

[Czarina]

This is an insanely delicious scent on me.

 

The initial impression I get is pencil shavings/cedar (the wood).

 

This immediately recedes as the amber, leather, honey, berries and musk emerge.

 

This is like a sweeter version of Intrigue in some ways.

 

Masculine? Oh, no no. Not on me. Definitely bottle-worthy.

[azhriaz]

In the imp, this smells like polished wood with a bit of sweetness.

 

On my skin all the notes blend together and end up smelling just like tobacco. It's not bad, but if I wanted to smell like tobacco I would just take up smoking..

[akiko]

All I get is leather and cologne. No honey, no berries, no spices. Just leather & cologne. Though for once, the leather doesn't make me want to gag, so it must be a different leather than in Iago and Loviatar.

 

I tried it on my SO, and it was OK on him. I'll try it again sometime in the future, I suppose. On him, not on me. It doesn't smell bad; it's just not for me.

[kakiphony]

Full disclosure: I am floral phobic. I took the plunge and ordered a decant of this because the wood, leather and berries sounded wearable if the flowers were VERY background, and because I can't help but adore the character. (One of my goals in life is to own a complete Mary Poppins costume.) I am going into this praying that this is as leather on me as it appears to have been on so many other reviewers. If I'm the only one who gets flowers, then I will know that this indeed an evil demon of a scent.

 

In the imp: Strangely, I get men's cologne and doctor's office. This is evoking all the afternoons I spent sitting in the small injection room waiting to get my allergy shot. It's antiseptic and woody. I'm getting alcohol, band-aids, and tongue depressors with just a hint of some perfumey cleaning product or air freshener. Maybe the lab got confused and this is naughty nurse rather than naughty nanny?

 

Wet on skin: Wood, wood, wood. And burning plastic. And it still smells like the shot room. This is very, very odd. On my right wrist band-aid is by far the dominant note.

 

Early dry down (10 minutes): This very wood and leather, and yes it still reminds me of the shot room. It's a hot, sterile, wood, leather and band-aid smell. Strangely, this is not a bad smell to me. It actually reminds me of my childhood in good (if twisted) ways.

 

Half hour mark: This has dried down to a really pretty wood and leather scent which is rounded out by something that might be berry and might be floral and might even be a musk, but is so subtle that it's not really detectable as a separate note. I don't think it's masculine as much as it is extremely dry and warm. This makes me think of the inside of saunas.

 

Several (4+) hours later: I had to come back and add to this because zomg has it gotten good! It still doesn't have a lot of throw, but I keep catching whiffs of something super sexy, and it's me! This has bloomed into a sexy yet subtle blend of leather and wood with something sweet at the base that makes it incredibly graceful. This is a bottle FOR SURE, and I really want to try it on J (although he may balk at wearing a nanny's perfume!)

Edited June 5, 2008 by kakiphony